Hi everyone. I was just wondering if anyone could help explain what's going on with my skin. I had bad acne in middle school and into my freshman year of high school, mostly on the forehead and chin areas. I used prescriptions (clindamycin, differin, duac, and a 10% BP cleanser) for many years which helped a lot, but my skin started going downhill again around the time I started college. Since then I've stuck with the prescriptions and face wash and dealt with having a mediocre complexion. My forehead has completely ceased to be a problem area and any issues were basically confined to my chin/mouth region.

I then tried Dan's regimen, which seemed to help initially and I had almost clear skin after about two to four weeks. New pimples kept coming, however. The strange thing is that about five weeks into the regimen, new acne started forming in places that were never problems before, or hadn't been for years. I broke out on my forehead/temple on one side of my face, and new, deeper zits were coming up on my cheeks (again, an area that I've never really had problems with). After about two months I stopped the regimen due to these problems combined with the horrid drying and irritation I experienced. The blotchy redness and constant flaking made my face look even worse than acne.

For the past three weeks or so I've been researching more 'natural' remedies, and tried honey masks with lemon juice as treatment, and jojoba oil to moisturize and dilute the juice. For the last week I've also been drinking Clearade, a megadose B5 drink mix. This seemed to go really well the first week and my skin felt like porcelain. Still not perfect, I would occasionally still get new pimples. However, the way it made my skin feel made me keep it up. It felt like actual skin, healthy and moist -- which I really haven't had in years of applying drying chemicals to my face.

The past week, though, the random breakouts have worsened, and a couple days ago I woke up with lots of small whiteheads around my chin, nose, and lips. Small bumps also appeared in random places on my entire face. These types of acne and these places on my face have never been normal for me. The acne I had prior to the breakouts even seem like they're worsening and becoming more red than they were before. My skin right now really is worse than it's been in years.

I've heard a bit about "purging" and how acne gets worse before it gets better. However, I'm not sure if it's normal to get breakouts in places that were never problem areas. Does anyone have any idea what's going on?

Since you just recently quit the regimen, your face might be freaking out a little from stopping the BP. But I'm also wondering if it could be the jojoba oil. A lot of people love it, but some, like me, can't use it. Try skipping the jojoba oil for a week and see if it gets better. Maybe the lemon juice is too harsh for your skin, and causing the redness? You can dilute it with water if you absolutely don't wanna give up the lemon juice. Honestly, try not washing your face. I've been experimenting with it for 3 weeks and I'm very pleased =)

Hey, yeaaa I didn't do that very long. My face exploded, and I mean explodeddddd in clogged pores, acne, cysts you name it. I am on Accutane now. I really don't recommend water only. But it depends on the person. My boyfriend and his dad only rinse with water, never soap and their skin is pretty much flawless. Not me. I can get a clogged pore by looking at chocolate. So I need to keep my skin clean. I really can't say that the water only method is what caused my explosion, as I quit BP around the same time... but I think the combo of the 2 are to blame. Just make sure if you are going to try the water only method that you don't wear makeup. Water will never wash off makeup by itself. I thought i could still dabble on makeup here and there and it was pretty gross.

Hey, yeaaa I didn't do that very long. My face exploded, and I mean explodeddddd in clogged pores, acne, cysts you name it. I am on Accutane now. I really don't recommend water only. But it depends on the person. My boyfriend and his dad only rinse with water, never soap and their skin is pretty much flawless. Not me. I can get a clogged pore by looking at chocolate. So I need to keep my skin clean. I really can't say that the water only method is what caused my explosion, as I quit BP around the same time... but I think the combo of the 2 are to blame. Just make sure if you are going to try the water only method that you don't wear makeup. Water will never wash off makeup by itself. I thought i could still dabble on makeup here and there and it was pretty gross.

Oh noo. Yeah I quit BP a couple months ago, just started wearing makeup recently now that my skin doesn't look super flaky when I put it on. The last two weeks my skin has been awful.. maybe from wearing the makeup, or maybe a delayed reaction from quitting BP. Who knows. How are you liking Accutane? It's taking a LOT out of me to try and resist going back to BP. I don't want to but the constant breakouts are just getting to be too much.

My face was actually really good for 2 months after quitting BP and then it went crazy. So maybe you're like me and it took a couple months to kick in? I remember reading a lot of posts on here before I quit about other people's experiences with quitting BP and most of them said it took a few months for the breakout to happen. Are you using anything now? I will never use BP again. Well, I don't think I could if I wanted to anyway. I started developing an allergy from it, probably from putting so much on during the regimen because I used it since I was 12 or so. Then the last year of using it, it would make my face bright red, be burnt in some areas, and horrible peeling. I love Accutane. It gave me my life back. I have so much more time on my hands and I'm able to go and do things that I want instead of hiding. I am terrified to stop taking it though. I'm really afraid of it coming back and I'm always thinking about what I should use when I'm finished. Do you go to a derm? Maybe they could put you on something a little less intense. My derm actually told me that BP is old school haha. I believe it!

Wow, I wish I had your doctor. I went to a derm a few years ago and was basically put on BP treatments with a BP cleanser.. so it sounds like he might be a little behind in the game if your derm is right. haha

I'm just using AHA now once a day at night, then just rinsing with warm water in the morning.. mainly because I just don't really don't know what to do at this point. I really don't want to revert to makeup because I'm afraid it will make it worse. But it's horrible going out bare faced when my skin is this bad. How long have you been on Accutane? How have the side effects been for you? I'm really afraid of the drying I've heard about, as that has been my nemesis for all topical acne treatments I've used. It may take away the acne, but it gives me a reddish, blotchy skin tone and my skin feels rough and tight all the time. It never fully adjusted like some people say, even after years of BP and trying out MANY moisturizers and jojoba oil.

lol maybe a few years ago they still prescribed BP? i'm sure they still do but i think if they know you've tried it already they switch to something else.

your skin must be pretty un-sensitive to use AHA! i can't because it burns me. too bad though because it is some good stuff! yea i hated the drying effects of topicals. the regimen made my skin drier than it ever was in my life. it was horrible. i wouldn't leave the house besides work usually because of the flaking. i couldn't eat without my skin peeling around my mouth. i had to exfoliate with baking soda, do yogurt masks, you name it.

i just started my 6th month on accutane. i actually have a blog if you wanna check it out =P side effects are tolerable. my nose bleeds every time i blow it usually, my eyes are dry, lips are dry but Carmex takes care of it. my back is the only one that bugs me, it hurts a lot but it's not unbearable. i get a rash on my arms but moisturizing helps and so does hydrocortisone. maybe you should get back to a derm and see if they have something new to offer you? if your acne is hormonal you could try spiro. i am wondering if mine is hormonal cause i normally break out around my period. never knew before accutane cause i would just break out daily. so maybe.

That's great that your side effects are relatively minor.. and I've actually been researching spiro a bit recently because if the acne isn't caused by hormones, I don't know what it could be. And usually my skin is really sensitive (if I touch somewhere on my face, I WILL get a zit there), but luckily Dan's AHA isn't burning it like the other brands of AHA I tried. I think revisiting the derm is probably my best bet. Is your blog on this site or another one? I clicked on it here and got an error..

yea my skin used to be like that too! I am still anal about people touching my skin. my blog is on here. wonder why it's not working? =/ i will check it out and let you know!

wow that is weird. i went to my profile and clicked blog and got the error. then i clicked "my topics" and only one of my entries was there. so i personally went in to manage my blogs and they're all there. let me try to past the link and see if that works for you.